By Malaika Girma May 27 2022
On May 25th 2022, ‘Views of Addis’ met with Ms. Adey to interview her on the role of Cure Hospital in Ethiopia’s society and what her contributions were to the hospital. She arrived at the meeting point on a sunny Wednesday afternoon fresh from her office.
Although responsible for running and managing the different aspects of the hospital, she was cheerful and ready to discuss the role of the Hospital in the community. She explained that the hospital is mainly for children under the age of 18 and the hospital treats children that have disabling conditions such as clubfoot (a congenital condition where the foot does not develop properly causing it to be twisted and can not be placed flat on the ground), knocked knees, and other musculoskeletal problems. Depending on the severity of these medical conditions, they can make it hard for children to do day-to-day activities, such as walking or going to school. Apart from orthopedics, the hospital also provides plastic surgery to repair disfiguring conditions caused by burns (burn contractures), cleft lip and palate, etc.
Cure Ethiopia is run by Cure International USA which runs a network of ten hospitals (mostly throughout Africa). Cure Hospital is non-profit and is mainly funded by private donors and organizations like USAID, CBM and Smile Train, and others, and does not charge patients for any medical procedures. The hospital provides specialized treatments focusing on congenital conditions and conditions that were acquired after birth. “It may be a place for check-ups if you suspect orthopedic or major skin problems,” Ms. Adey said. The clientele of the hospital tends to be children from low income families as these children don't receive treatment right after birth as the parents may not be able to afford the costs and most of the time the treatment is not available where they live. The hospital receives patients from all over the country and recently, the hospital has received children from the areas within Ethiopia that were in conflict. These children have found themselves in crossfires or were specifically targeted.
“One of the hardest parts of my job,” Ms. Adey said, “is seeing children being affected by the wars that were created by adults.” Ms. Adey also added that it is heartbreaking when the hospital isn’t able to help a child (which is rare) and the only option is to amputate the child’s affected limb. “However,” she says, “ many times, even after an amputation, the child is more mobile, and with the assistance of prosthetics, can have a normal childhood.”
Ms. Adey has been working for Cure Ethiopia since the hospital’s establishment 14 years ago. She went to Seattle University where she got her graduate degree in applied economics and she did her undergraduate in upstate New York. Her education in economics did not prepare her for this job as her education was not related to the healthcare field but it did allow her to become a critical and analytical thinker which is important in her position.
When living in the U.S, Ms. Adey always wanted to return to Ethiopia, as it is her birth country, her home and it is her family’s home as well. But apart from that, she felt useful when living in the US, but she felt as if she wasn’t adding value to the work she did, whereas when she started living in Ethiopia, she felt like she added value to the community and was able to fill in gaps especially in the healthcare field. Initially, she wasn’t seeking a healthcare job, but the position came up as she began her move back to Ethiopia and she knew that this was going to be her purpose.
"there are times when people would start talking to a male walking beside me, assuming that he was the head of the hospital."
As a woman in senior management, Ms. Adey believes that gender plays a role even though there are both women and men in the senior management positions at Cure. Ms. Adey says, “there are times when people would start talking to a male walking beside me, assuming that he was the head of the hospital.” But, she says that this hasn’t impacted what she does and how she does it. “If anything,”she says, “it has made me stronger and more vocal.” Ms. Adey says that her job is very rewarding in the sense that she gets to “help children and see them get better,” a smile appears on her face as she says this. It is clear that Ms. Adey feels her role at Cure Hospital has been incredibly rewarding and a major validation of her decision to return to Ethiopia, to serve and to fill in the gaps where necessary.